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Nine or 10 years ago, I went to a swimsuit tailor and asked him to make me a two-piece with bottoms that came up to my waist. My real waist, which is above my navel. I wanted boylegs, too, so I wouldn’t need a Brazilian to wear them.

He thought I was nuts. Really nuts. He was a surfer dude who was firmly in the bikini camp.

But I liked the retro look of it and that it covered up the history of how my two daughters came into this world. I wanted to expose my upper abs instead of the messy jelly belly that my tankini revealed.

I thought it was a brilliant solution.

He thought it was crazy. I insisted, he balked. I knew I was way out on a fashion limb, but I hoped it would look so good it wouldn’t matter.

It did look pretty good and I did wear it ... sometimes. But I felt a bit like a curiosity.

What a difference 10 years makes. Retro swimwear is back and I am thrilled. It looks great on the young and it looks great on the not-so-young. It looks great on the fuller figure, too.

Swimsuit styles don’t change much. You’ve got your one piece, halter or no halter, your bikini, flowers or stripes and the tankini, tight or loose. So the retro designs, which offer a radically different look, are big news.

“It provides a bit of variety,” says Corinne Lea, co-owner of Scout, a retro-clothing store on Eighth Avenue at Main. “Most swimsuits are either sporty or hardly there, so in some ways they start looking all the same.”

Scout has a collection of retro suits from Bettie Page and Pin-up Couture, California companies, that really celebrate the glamour of 1950s movie stars. Local designer and Scout co-owner Misty Greer has created a retro collection for the store and she will custom-stitch a retro suit for you (without balking).

“Not everyone wants to wear itty-bitty,” says Lea. “But they still want to show some skin on their midriff.”

Some of the designs at Scout pack real va-va-voom, like the “Bombshell,” a one-piece that hearkens back to Marilyn Monroe or Liz Taylor with a halter top and sweetheart neckline. Very flattering and sexy but with full coverage.

Sauve agrees that not much changes in swimwear. “In the end, it really does come down to fit and the most flattering cut for you,” she says.

Unfortunately, so few swimsuits fit and flatter that women prefer a visit to the dentist to shopping for swimwear.

Whenever I brave the swimsuit shop, I wonder why manufacturers don’t take a page from the lingerie-design book. A woman can find a bra that fits perfectly, both in the cup and the back. It props her up and holds her in and makes her look ... well, almost good enough to go to the beach.

Swimsuit tops, on the other hand, too often come in small, medium and large. They rarely have underwire or even adjustable straps. Suits with fitting bottoms come with tops that are way too small — or too big, depending on your body type. Mix-and-match separates are a good solution except that they cost almost twice as much as paired suits.

The retro trend may not solve all my complaints, but the bras usually do have underwire, the bottoms cover the middle and the style celebrates curves. What’s more, they are fresh and sexy.

Sauve thinks this is hilarious. She has been carrying suits like these all along, at least the one-pieces. Now suddenly they are not just functional; they are fashionable.

Loads of swimsuit designers have included full-bottom two-pieces and boyleg one-pieces. Jantzen has some beautiful ones, as does Seafolly. They are so gorgeous that young fashion-forward girls are wearing them even if they don’t have body issues.

“I have certain suits I used to only sell to women over 40, but now the tweenies like that look, too,” she says, adding the design is more womanly, more feminine. She calls it ‘buxotic’, meaning buxom and exotic.

Nahid Hassania, owner of Forbie, a custom-swimwear business on Fourth Avenue, says she has been getting more requests for retro looks lately. She has several designs in her catalogue including ones with little skirts, or boylegs.

“Some people like it,” she says, adding that the boylegs don’t work on a woman with large thighs because it emphasizes bulk rather than hiding it.

For women with larger busts and small behinds, this is a perfect style. It supports the bust and enhances the bottom.

Not all swimsuit shops have fully embraced the retro look, but most have made some move in that direction. At Swimwear Etc. on Granville, you can find lots of ruffles and a few suits that give full bottom coverage including a cute one from Ann Cole’s Arabian Nights collection. It has a ruched front and back.

While they didn’t have a lot of vintage styles, Linda Planidin, manager at Swimwear Etc., says tankini tops this year are longer.

But for gals who want to really add some glamour to their beach persona, nothing beats the suits at Scout.

“None of these suits is boring,” says Lea, adding that they’re not just for swimming.“You are there to look stylish, too. You don’t have to lose style for function.”

kgram@vancouversun.com

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